Workflow For Setting Up Appointments At Gamescom

After participating in several game events and focusing on finding publishers like at GDC, Gamescom, Casual Connect, etc., I have a workflow that I usually use to secure appointments. Let me put a disclaimer here first, this isn’t the most accurate framework and may not be applicable to every studio’s case. But this is what I usually do.

Step 1, make sure the game you are bringing has its pillars clearly defined. You should be clear about its genre, its scope, its target market, and others. From these pillars, what we do is skim through all the list of publishers we can find on the internet to create a list of which publishers might be suitable for our game. We usually recap this in Notion in table form with information we note such as examples of games they publish, why they fit with the game we are bringing, whether we have contacted them before, and other notes.

Step 2, once the list is complete, we start hunting for appointments at Gamescom. There are three ways to hunt at Gamescom. The first and most successful method is using MeetToMatch. This is the most favorite matchmaking app for indies to meet with indie publishers. If you’re looking for triple A publishers, you can’t use this, of course. The second is to search in the list of Gamescom attendees via the Gamescom app. But note that the UX of the Gamescom app is really bad. Don’t make appointments using it. Just use it to confirm if they are on the floor and get their contact details, then you contact them separately via email. And the third is hunting on the internet. It could be via LinkedIn, Twitter, or their website. Try to blast emails to all the publishers we target.

Step 3, we need to track the status of all the meeting requests we have sent, while checking every day to see if there are new publishers joining MeetToMatch or Gamescom. Once the status is clear, whether it’s rejected or approved, immediately book our calendar. Don’t forget to change the time zone to the event time. If you use MeetToMatch, the timezone automatically changes. But if the meeting is set from an email or message, we have to manually input the email invitation and make sure they invite their calendar. If you don’t have a booth, you can fill it in as TBD (To Be Decided) and scout for a good meeting area once you arrive at Gamescom.

Now here is step 4, you can also walk in with publishers who open booths there. So, if there are only a few who accept your meeting request, don’t be sad. You can roam around Gamescom to find out and get acquainted with the publishers there.

I hope this sharing helps. Good luck to all of you who are preparing to go to Gamescom.